November 4, 2023

Introducing the Concept 300 model from Q Acoustics

PERFORMANCE WITHOUT COMPROMISE, SOBER ELEGANCE

Since its founding in 2006, Q Acoustics has built an unrivaled reputation for designing and manufacturing innovative, high-performance, class-leading loudspeakers at every price range. This constant and coordinated demonstration of excellence has led us to the Concept 300 model.

Introduction

The concept is simple, but astonishingly ambitious: build on the overwhelming success of the Concept 500 floor model and develop a more affordable monitor alternative, but with impeccable performance and stylish but restrained elegance.

Below we develop a brief explanation of how Q Acoustics has achieved this and, by extension, why the Concept 300 model represents the pinnacle of 21st century loudspeakers.

Design

We have long left behind the days when speaker performance was everything. Aesthetic considerations are perfectly valid and, to this end, for the Concept 300 Q Acoustics has designed a high-end, high-performance speaker that is evidently sophisticated and capable of interacting directly with any interior design.

On the outside we see numerous layers of lacquer that produce a high-quality glossy finish, combined with natural woods. The result is a chassis that manages to be clean and sober, but with obvious added value.

The clean appearance of the chassis is improved thanks to the innovative way of mounting the speakers. Both the tweeter and the mid-bass speaker are fixed, from behind, by strong tensioned fastening bolts, which prevent us from seeing the heads of the bolts on the front of the speakers.

At the rear, the Concept 300 features a terminal panel designed to resist room vibrations. It allows bi-wiring (or bi-amping) through its electrically insulated terminals – which accept bare wire, hairpins or 4mm bananas.

Finishes:

Chassis and support

Ideally, the only vibrations a speaker produces are those it needs to accurately reproduce sound. Of course, it is not possible to free a speaker chassis from absolutely all the unwanted vibrations that can interfere with its performance, but – as Q Acoustics has demonstrated in the Concept 300 model – it is possible to reduce them to a minimum and deliver a completely pure sound. .

Q Acoustics uses MDF instead of one of the more expensive and/or glamorous alternatives that exist to build the chassis of the Concept 300 model. There are several reasons for this: a) the alternative materials do not offer benefits in terms of damping or ease of construction and b) the most expensive materials only increase the price without providing any benefit to the sound.

Point 2 Point reinforcement

The design intelligence of the Concept 300 chassis is evident in its use of P2P (point-to-point) reinforcement. Q Acoustics is capable of measuring the behavior of the chassis structure and identifying those points that require additional support.

This targeted strengthening method means that the chassis has exactly the reinforcement it needs and no more. In this case, the long and extensive analysis of a problem results in a simple and effectively brilliant solution.

Conventional reinforcement

The heat map shows the velocity dispersion of the unreinforced walls.

Point 2 PointTM reinforcement

The heat map shows the velocity of the chassis walls with P2P reinforcement.

Dual Gelcore

Having addressed the low-frequency vibration issue with P2P boosting, Q Acoustics works against high-frequency vibrations using its custom Dual Gelcore technology.

The Concept 300 chassis is made up of three independent layers separated by a type of gel that does not harden. The gel acts as an effective high-tech gasket. Any stray high-frequency vibrations are converted to heat, which is dissipated through the gel.

Tensegrity support and Isolation Base system

The relationship between a monitor and its support is of vital importance. It is the design of the new Tensegrity stand and the new Isolation Base suspension system that joins it to the Concept 300 that allows Q Acoustics to redefine the level of performance possible for a monitor.

Tensegrity is a tripod – by definition, an extremely stable structure. It is made up of light aluminum tubes (which are the load-bearing element) and thin stainless steel cables, which maintain the position of the load tubes. The result is an extremely rigid self-supporting structure with a very small support surface and – let’s not fool ourselves – a very elegant appearance. It’s not so much a speaker stand as a completely new stand concept.

But, let’s make it clear, the efficiency of the chassis or the ingenuity of its support design matters little if the union between the two is unfavorable or inefficient. Q Acoustics joins the Concept 300 speaker with the Tensegrity stand using the new suspension system, which could not be more favorable or efficient.

The entire mass of the speaker is suspended on the four springs of this new isolation plate. This damping system works in several ways: it prevents energy from the speaker from passing to the stand and affecting the sound, it prevents vibrations from the floor from being transmitted to the speaker through the stand and, in any case, it acts as a completely fixing system. rigid between speaker and support.

Thanks to this combination of Tensegrity support and Isolation Base suspension, the Concept 300’s performance is completely free of internal or external influences.

Speakers and filter

Q Acoustics has taken its proven (and acclaimed) speaker technology from the Concept 500 floorstanding model and improved its performance to perfectly fit the needs of the Concept 300’s smaller chassis.

The mid-bass speaker is a 165mm coated paper cone with very low resonance thanks to its high-performance rubber gasket. It faces a large (35mm) fiberglass voice coil and an equally sizeable ferrite magnet. The result is a response in the mids and bass with punch and dynamics, prepared and eloquent.

Above, the 28mm tweeter, made of very fine threads of coated microfiber, is detached from the chassis using a rubber gasket. This prevents the tweeter from sending or receiving unwanted vibrations and allows it to be mounted close to the mid-bass speaker. This improves integration with the large speaker and the subtly tapered profile of the tweeter faceplate allows you to match the impedance to your environment without coloring the result.

Results

The combination of rigorous engineering, uncompromising industrial design and ambitious aesthetics makes the Concept 300 the most successful speaker Q Acoustics has ever made. Combined with the equally meticulous Tensegrity mount, the Concept 300 represents a significant change in speaker design and redefining what is possible to achieve at this price.

Technical specifications

Concept 300 Speaker

Enclosure type: 2-way bass reflex

Mid-bass: 165mm

Tweeter: 28mm

Frequency response: 55Hz – 30kHz

Nominal impedance: 6 Ω

Minimum impedance: 4.7 Ω

Sensitivity: 84dB

Stereo amplification power: 25-200W

Cutoff frequency: 2.5kHz

Actual volume: 11.4l